Russia Considers Global Approaches Before Drafting Crypto Mining Bill

The Russian government has taken a markedly open-minded approach to cryptocurrency mining after examining existing methods and regulations from around the world before imposing the country’s own.

International Mining Summit

Boris Chernyshov, the State Duma Committee for Education and Science’s deputy chairman, has confirmed that Russia’s government will host a summit for cryptocurrency miners hailing from 15 different countries. At this time, miners will be able to express mining methods and regulations in their respective nation, with the possibility of sharing stories regarding problems and solutions in the industry. The conference will focus on the sharing of knowledge garnered from their respective hometowns.

“Fifteen countries have confirmed participation,” shared Boris Chernyshov. “Representatives from the United States, from India, from Israel, from Armenia, from Turkey are speaking here. They are keynote speakers,” he explained, mentioning that other cryptocurrency experts will also be present to speak during the presentation.

The summit will grant parliament officials a water-tight understanding of the regulations and practices of cryptocurrency mining around the world. Armed with the knowledge of what their neighbors are doing, they will be in the best possible position to draft cryptocurrency legislation proposals and recommendations. These are scheduled to be submitted on December 28, 2017, according to State Duma Financial Markets Committee chairman, Anatoly Aksakov.

A Long History of Interest: Russia and Cryptocurrencies

Russia has been interested in cryptocurrency for quite some time. On September 27, 2017, the Federation Council Committee on Economic Policy held a meeting on blockchain technology usage and implementation in Russia.

Additionally, President Vladimir Putin has turned up the heat in the digital space, putting a deadline of mid-2018 for the regulation of bitcoin mining. The proposed regulatory frameworks for cryptocurrencies requires licensing of all cryptocurrency miners, as requested by Putin. The application window for a cryptocurrency mining license expires in July 2018, leaving miners with no more than seven months from the date of writing to get their proposals submitted.

Russia has become a favorite location for mining, due to the availability of low-cost electricity and the country’s propensity for cold weather – both of which promote optimum mining with reduced overhead costs.

The proposed cryptocurrency mining regulation would allow Russian government not only to tax profits similar to those of traditional corporations but also to keep tabs on the people legally mining cryptocurrency within Russia’s borders. It is presumed that there would be penalties in place for those that do will not comply with the future law(s), although officials have not detailed that information at this stage.

The meeting was indeed branded and marketed well, attracting a large number of experts to attend. “We will try to look into the future of the currency, the future of banking,” iterated Chernyshov.

As well as miners, the proposed bill will also regulate ICO activity, one aspect being a limit to the annual amount that one investor can place in a project.

After the bill has been submitted, the proposal will be discussed in March 2018, with an outcome decided upon at the end of the meeting.